I welcome all family, friends, faculty and staff of this school to this graduation Mass where we join together at the Altar of God, with all the angels and saints, to give thanks for this great achievement in the life of these young people. Of course I also welcome the Saint Mary's School Class of 2014 to this Mass where you will be nourished from the Altar of God and will then be sent back into the world to give proper glory and praise to God for such an achievement. Your class brings many different experiences to this great occasion. Some of you began your time at this school in pre-K, others came later, and others have come, gone, and thankfully have returned again. The path that you will take from here will also vary. Some of you are headed towards Knoxville Catholic, some to Oak Ridge High School, some to another school, and even those who will be leaving this state behind. Nevertheless no matter what the future has in store for you may you remember your time at this school and all that you have learned while you were here.
In your reflection of your time spent in this school you will remember many things from time spent with your little buddies, to sports especially a volleyball championship won this past year, to perfecting the craft of the art known as the science fair project, to even a broken water fountain (You know what I am talking about), but most of all I hope that you will realize the true value that is found with an education that has been balanced with the truth of the Gospel. In the world people like to boast about the importance of their academic achievement, but they often forget why our academic achievement must be founded in the truth of the Gospel. Be it through science, through math, through English, or through another subject that you were offered; you experienced all these things as a reflection of God who is the creator of all that is true. As you move away from this school may you not also move away from your relationship with Jesus Christ. We need this relationship if we will ever hope to be made whole because without such a relationship we will always be left incomplete. This school through all of your academic achievement has entwined this principle into your mind, so please do not allow this reality to pass away as you move away from here.
From the alleluia verse we were instructed: "The Holy Spirit will teach you everything and remind you of all I told you." The Holy Spirit is indeed at work within this world and will continue to be at work in each of your life. As we head into the world and as you prepare to enter high school you will encounter many struggles, but in the midst of each of these struggles may you encounter your hope through the living God. It is towards this encounter with the living God that the Holy Spirit will lead us if we remain open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit which continue to tug at our hearts. When we allow our hearts to become closed to this encounter we are no longer desiring in our heart to move into the future where hope will be found in the midst of every sorrow. With our hearts closed to the promptings of the Spirit we desire only to live for this moment alone without moving ourself towards a greater goal in life. May we not run from the future, but instead embrace it through our unending "yes" to the Holy Spirit.
With this "yes" we will be able to hear the voice of the Shepherd in the midst of all the issues that will arise in our life. Christ our Shepherd will indeed take care of each of you if you are willing to allow Him to do so. Because you leave this school behind today, with its Dominican sisters dressed in white with a rosary hanging from their side, with teachers who have spent so much time challenging you in your academic pursuit, with the opportunity to pray at the start and end of the day, with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass structuring your day around Christ and His great gift of the Eucharist, with all the other countless amounts of examples that this school has done for you; does not get you off the hook of continuing to grow in this intimate relationship with Christ each and every single day. What values you have received here are only the beginning, they are only a foundation, because they will continue to grow if you will only allow them to do so without impeding the plan that Christ has for each of you.
This day we give thanks for this academic achievement that has been accomplished by this group of young people. We give thanks for the Class of 2014 and all that they have done for this school as they have spent these past years achieving this academic success while being grounded in Christ our Lord. We now pray for each of them because we know if they will only trust in Christ and the promptings of the Holy Spirit that they will continue to glorify God through their knowledge and within their various achievements. When life begins to get tough may you always remember the firm foundation that you have received here at this school and through this great foundation continue to trust in the Lord who is our Shepherd.
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